Oiling means for pumps

ABSTRACT

An oiler for a pump having a delivery side and an inlet side, the delivery side being at a higher pressure than the inlet side, the oiler having a wick passing through a tube, one end of the wick lying in a dish of oil which dish is constantly being replenished from a reservoir of oil by a flow of air passing through a tube, part of which is below oil level, a flow of air passing downwardly through the tube in which the wick is placed so that oil is delivered from the wick to the air and into the fuel pipe of a pump, with the air pressure differential to create the flow being obtained by the air supply pipe being connected to the delivery side of the pump. The pump may be used under both pressurized and &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;vacuum&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; conditions.

United States Patent 1191 1111 3,738,453 Boswell June 12, 1973 [54]OILING MEANS FOR PUMPS 2,495,601 1 1950 Rawson 184/64 x Inventor: GordonHenry Boswell, 7, The

Anchorage, Pakuranga, Auckland Filed: Apr. 21, 1971 Appl. No.: 135,890

Foreign Application Priority Data Apr. 23, 1970 New Zealand 159934References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2/1949 Duerr, Jr. 184/64 X 9/1954l84/6.l6 X 2/1942 184/64 X 4/1961 Ivie 184/6.16 X

Primary ExaminerManuel A. Antonakas Attorney-Holman & Stern [57]ABSTRACT An oiler for a pump having a delivery side and an inlet side,the delivery side being at a higher pressure than the inlet side, theoiler having a wick passing through a tube, one end of the wick lying ina dish of oil which dish is constantly being replenished from areservoir of oil by a flow of air passing through a tube, part of whichis below oil level, a flow of air passing downwardly through the tube inwhich the wick is placed so that oil is delivered from the wick to theair and into the fuel pipe of a pump, with the air pressure differentialto create the flow being obtained by the air supply pipe being connectedto the delivery side of the pump. The pump may be used under bothpressurized and vacuum conditions.

6 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure OILING MEANS FOR PUMPS BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION This invention relates to oiling means for pumps.

Moving vane rotary pumps are frequently used under conditions in whichthe pump creates a reduced pressure in a vessel connected to one side,exhausting the vessel to atmosphere, i. e., the pump operates as avacuum pump and, under other circumstances, the pump draws air atatmospheric pressure, and pressurizes this air for deliver to thevessel. These circumstances arise, for example, where a farmer uses thepump for drawing liquid manure into a tank when the pump is acting as avacuum pump, and for pressurizing that tank for delivery of the liquidmanure from the vessel under pressure. The task of oiling the workingparts of this pump under these conditions is quite arduous.

It is therefore, an object of the present invention to provide oilingmeans for a pump of the type described which will enable the pump to beoiled adequately in a simple yet effective manner, or which will atleast provide the public with a useful choice.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the invention relates to an oilingmeans for a pump of the type having a delivery side and an inlet side,the delivery side being at a higher pressure than the inlet side, theoiling means comprising a covered vessel for containing oil, the vesselbeing mounted above the pump, an air pressure inlet leading to theinterior of the vessel, conduit means connecting the air pressure inletleading to the interior of the vessel, conduit means connecting the airpressure inlet to the delivery side of the pump, means defining an oiloutlet passageway leading from the interior of the vessel downwardlythrough a floor of the vessel, said passageway being connected to theinlet side of the pump, a dish within the vessel mounted above the floorthereof, said dish surrounding the outlet passageway and having an upperedge located below an upper edge of the outlet passageway, a conduitleading from a point in line with said air inlet through said dish, theconduit having a lower end submerged in the oil supply within saidvessel in a manner such that incoming air entrains oil from said vesseland lifts it into the dish, and wick means in said dish adapted tocollect oil therefrom and deliver it to said outlet passageway, thearrangement being such that air entering said vessel via said air inletentrains oil raising it to said dish in which said oil is picked up bysaid wick and passes in controlled amounts to the inlet side of saidpump.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Onc preferred form of the inventionwill now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing inwhich the sole FIGURE is a side view, partly in section ofa pump havingmounted thereon an oiling means according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Referring to the drawings,preferably, means are provided to prevent the entry of oil from saidvessel to said higher pressure side of said pump.

In a further aspect, the invention may broadly be said to consist in apump having incorporated therein oiling means as above described.

A pump oiler denoted generally 1 for a moving vane type pump 2 isconstructed as follows:

A vessel 3 may, for example, comprise an open topped receptacle having aclosure 4 and preferably a seal 5 which can be fixed in place so as torender the vessel airtight in use. The vessel is suitably mounted abovethe pump and may, for example, have a spigot or extension 6 which fitsin a female thread 7 on a lower pressure side 8 of the pump. A smallpassageway 9 leads through this spigot from interior 10 of the vessel 3to the pump 1 and a tube 11 leading from the passageway 9 has an end 12above a dish 13, also mounted in the vessel at a level above a normaloil level 14 in the vessel. A wick 15 is mounted in the tube 11, withend 15a, of the wick 15 lying loosely in the dish 13 or preferablytucked under a deflector 22 to prevent dislodgement by motion of thepump, e.g., when the pump is part of a mobile installation. A supplytube 16 for air and oil is supported by the dish 13 and has one end 17positioned in an upper part or as shown above upstanding edge 18 of thedish and passes through a bottom 19 of the dish 13. A lower end 20 ofthe tube 16 terminates just above a floor 21 of the vessel, for allowingoil to be admitted to the supply tube. The deflector 22 is fanshaped andis mounted above the end 17 of the tube 16 so thatoil and air rising inthe supply tube 16 impinge on the deflector, allowing at least some oilto run into the dish 13, and consequently over the parts of the wick 15on the dish. An air tube 23 is directed towards the lower end of thesupply tube, and has a short length 24 within and concentric with thelower end 20 of the tube 16 with the air tube 23 being connected to ahigher pressure side 25 of the pump by a pipe 26. The pipe 26 has arestriction therein or leading thereto or therefrom to limit the supplyof air passing therethrough, e.g., by the provisions of a small hole ina union 27 connecting the pipe to the pump. In addition, the tube has asubstantially U-shaped bend 28 therein so that a portion of the tube isabove the likely level of oil in the vessel. This is to prevent oilrunning from the vessel back through the air tube into the high pressureside of the pump when it is stationary where it would in face, bewasted. The ball bearings or other bearings on which the pump rotorshaft is mounted are oiled by means of normal Alemite or other greasegun lubrication points (not shown).

The pump 2 includes a casing 31 with an interior cylindrical curvedpumping surface 32. A hollow cylindrical rotor 33 rotates within thecasing 31 and running in slots 39 are vanes 34 extended by springs (notshown) so that ends 35 thereof bears against the curved surface 32. Therotor is mounted on a shaft 36 with the shaft in turn beingeccentrically mounted on end bells 37 and 38. This, of course, describesa well known type of rotary vane pump. With such a pump being used as apressure pump, the vanes 34 do not always maintain a good sealingcontact with the surface 32, having either some tendency to twist andgrip in the slots 39 in the rotor 33 or tending to be forced backagainst spring pressure due to pressure on the ends 35 particularly whenthere is a considerable pressure differential between the inlet andoutlet sides of the pump.

Accordingly, the present invention envisages the provision of a slot 40positioned in one or both end bells 37 and 38. This slot connects thenormal swept volume of the pump at a point adjacent to an outlet 41 ofthe pump to interior 42 of the hollow rotor 33 in at least somepositions of the rotor. This has the advantage of tending to equalizethe pressure between the discharge side of the pump and the interior 42of the rotor 33 and in particular tending to equalize the pressurearound the vanes 34. It has been found that this gives a consid erablybetter performance of the pump particularly when the pump is operated athigher pressures due to the vanes being more readily kept pressedoutwardly against the curved surface 32 of the pump casing.

The pump may now be utilized under circumstances in which the lowerpressure side 8 is below atmospheric pressure for operation of thepump-as a vacuum pump, and as a pressure pump when the intake side is atatmospheric pressure and the higher pressure side 25 is at higher thanatmospheric pressure. This duty for a pump is necessary, for example,for drawing liquid manure into a pressure vessel and then pressurizingthe vessel with high pressure air so that such liquid manure may bedischarged from the pressure vessel. Under these circumstances, in bothcases, the pressure differential between the higher pressure side 25 andthe lower pressure side 8 creates an air flow through tube 23 and someoil is entrained in the flow of air. This oil collects on the dish 13and when the dish 13 is full, the excess overflows back into the vessel.It should perhaps be mentioned that the reason for the dish is tomaintain a level of oil in relation to the wick so that a constant lift"height for the wick is provided regardless of the amount of oil in thevessel. The oil in the dish is picked up by the wick 15 and fed at asubstantially controlled rate through the restriction 9 into theinterior of the inlet to the pump. The oil is then mechanicallydistributed within the pump and the vanes are adequately oiled. Thevessel is sealed and resealed by removing the closure 4.

Because of the equalization of pressure between the interior of therotor and discharge pressure of the pump, a considerable advantage isobtained when the pump is acting as a pressure pump rather than as avacuum pump in that the vanes are kept in contact with the outer casingof the pump in a satisfactory manner.

it will be clear that the oiler could be fitted to any gas pump, evenone which is used only as a vacuum pump.

One of the advantages of the system is that the oil in the dish 13 feedsover into the intake of the pump while it is stationary, after a run,thereby providing a shot" of oil when the pump is restarted.

I claim:

1. An oiling means for a pump of the type having a delivery side and aninlet side, the delivery side being at a higher pressure than the inletside, said oiling means comprising a covered vessel for containing oil,said vessel having an air pressure inlet, conduit means connecting saidair pressure inlet to the delivery side of the pump, means defining anair outlet passageway within the vessel, said passageway passingdownwardly through a floor of the vessel and being connected to theinlet side of the pump, a dish within the vessel mounted above the floorthereof surrounding the oil outlet passageway, said outlet passagewayhaving an upper edge located above an upper edge of said dish, a conduitleading from a point in line with said air inlet through said dish, theconduit having a lower end submerged in the oil supply within saidvessel and being spaced from the vessel floor so that incoming airentrains oil from said vessel and lifts it into the dish, and wick meanspositioned in the oil outlet passageway passing over the upper edge ofsaid passageway and having an end in said dish adapted to collect oiltherefrom and deliver it to said oil outlet means, the arrangement beingsuch that air entering said vessel during operation of the pump via thedelivery side, conduit means and air pressure inlet entrains oil raisingit via said conduit to said dish in which oil is picked up by' said wickand passes in controlled amounts to the inlet side of said pump via saidoil outlet passageway.

2. The pump oiling means as claimed in claim 1 wherein an air pipeconstitutes said conduit means through which air is conducted to saidair pressure inlet, said air pipe being provided with a substantially U-shaped bend so that a portion of the air pipe is above the level of oilin the vessel to prevent oil flowing from said vessel to the deliveryside of the pump.

3. The pump oiling means as claimed in claim 1 wherein a deflector plateis positioned above said conduit to deflect oil into said dish.

4. The pump oiling means as claimed in claim I wherein said oil outletpassageway has a bore of restricted cross sectional area.

5. The oiling means as claimed in claim I in which the pump includes acasing, a hollow rotor rotatable in said casing and in which pumpingvanes slide and a passageway being provided in said casing adjacent thedelivery side of the pump, with said passageway leading in at least somepositions of the rotor to the hollow interior of the rotor.

6. The pump as claimed in claim 5 wherein said passageway is provided inan end bell of said casing.

1. An oiling means for a pump of the type having a delivery side and aninlet side, the delivery side being at a higher pressure than the inletside, said oiling means comprising a covered vessel for containing oil,said vessel having an air pressure inlet, conduit means connecting saidair pressure inlet to the delivery side of the pump, means defining anair outlet passageway within the vessel, said passageway passingdownwardly through a floor of the vessel and being connected to theinlet side of the pump, a dish within the vessel mounted above the floorthereof surrounding the oil outlet passageway, said outlet passagewayhaving an upper edge located above an upper edge of said dish, a conduitleading from a point in line with said air inlet through said dish, theconduit having a lower end submerged in the oil supply within saidvessel and being spaced from the vessel floor so that incoming airentrains oil from said vessel and lifts it into the dish, and wick meanspositioned in the oil outlet passageway passing over the upper edge ofsaid passageway and having an end in said dish adapted to collect oiltherefrom and deliver it to said oil outlet means, the arrangement beingsuch that air entering said vessel during operation of the pump via thedelivery side, conduit means and air pressure inlet entrains oil raisingit via said conduit to said dish in which oil is picked up by said wickand Passes in controlled amounts to the inlet side of said pump via saidoil outlet passageway.
 2. The pump oiling means as claimed in claim 1wherein an air pipe constitutes said conduit means through which air isconducted to said air pressure inlet, said air pipe being provided witha substantially U-shaped bend so that a portion of the air pipe is abovethe level of oil in the vessel to prevent oil flowing from said vesselto the delivery side of the pump.
 3. The pump oiling means as claimed inclaim 1 wherein a deflector plate is positioned above said conduit todeflect oil into said dish.
 4. The pump oiling means as claimed in claim1 wherein said oil outlet passageway has a bore of restricted crosssectional area.
 5. The oiling means as claimed in claim 1 in which thepump includes a casing, a hollow rotor rotatable in said casing and inwhich pumping vanes slide and a passageway being provided in said casingadjacent the delivery side of the pump, with said passageway leading inat least some positions of the rotor to the hollow interior of therotor.
 6. The pump as claimed in claim 5 wherein said passageway isprovided in an end bell of said casing.